Valve trip-gear for steam and other motive-power engines.



E. NEUKOMM.

VALVE TRIP GEAR FOR STEAM AND OTHER MO'I'IYE POWER ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED HA3. 7, 1910.

1,005,741. Patented Oct. 10,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. NEUKOMM.

VALVE TBIPGEAE FOE STEAM AND OTHER MOTIVE POWER ENGINES.

' APPLICATION IILED MAB. '7, 1910. 1,005g741. Patented 0ct'.10,1911.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

COLUMBIA I'LANOHRAPH CO4, WASHINGTON, u. c.

E. NEUKOMM. VALVE TRIP GEAR FOR STEAM AND OTHER MOTIVE POWER ENGINES.

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 7, 1910.

1,005,741. Patented 0et10,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH c0. WASHINGTON. D. c,

EDWIN NEUKOMM, OF ROCHDALE, ENGLAND.

VALVE TRIP-GEAR FOR STEAM AND OTHER MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES.

ocated.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

Application filed March '7, 1910. Serial No. 547,896.

T 0 all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN NEUKOMM, citizen of Switzerland, residing atRochdale, in the county of Lancaster, Kingdom of Great Britain, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in and Connected with ValveTrip-Gears for Steam and other Motive- Power Engines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved constructionand arrangement of trip-gear applicable for Corliss, drop and othertypes of valves of steam and other motive power engines, whereby theengagement of the valve lever is rendered positive, the friction andconsequent plucking action on the governor at release reduced to aminimum while the governor has to perform less work, the steam or otherfluid can be instantly cut off at any part of the stroke, the gear isrendered much simpler and lighter and the inertia will be consequentlydiminished and the gear actuating positively, slipping is prevented andthe engine can be run at a relatively higher speed. To prevent the saidslipping, according to my invention I dispense with the said flatcontact surfaces which being fiat had to be very short and provide thesaid trip catch and valve lever each with a long and curved contactsurface overlapping each other, say about 1%; to 1%; inch and forming anarc with center coinciding with the fulcrum of the trip catch from whichit is suspended.

To diminish the plucking action on the governor at the moment of thedisengage ment of the trip catch from the valve lever, I arrange thetrip gear in such a manner, as to efiect the displacement of the tripcatch from the valve lever more uniformly and during the whole periodthe trip catch and valve lever are engaged, whereby the governor notonly determines the time the contact surface of the trip catch and valvelever are in engagement, but also controls the amount of the contactsurfaces in engagement according to the different cut oifs. To furtherreduce the work on the governor which by my improvements so fardescribed is now rendered more constant, I provide the trip catch with atail end, giving a great amount of leverage for the governor to act uponand I also furnish the said governor lever on its end with a roller incontact with the said tail end whereby friction is reduced to a minimumand to render the movement of the trip catch uniform and in proportionto the motion of the governor. I arrange the fulcrum of the governorlever to coincide with the fulcrum of the valve lever whereby themovement of the governor lever roller in contact with the trip catchtail end is most direct and regular, the outward movement of the tripcatch being approximately equal to the movement of the roller on the arcwith center coinciding with the fulcrum of the valve lever.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingthree sheets of drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 3 are detached sideviews and Figs. 2 and 4 respectively longitudinal sections of atrip-gear constructed in accordance with the invention. Figs. 5 and 6are respectively a side elevation and an end view of a Corliss engineprovided with the improved trip-gear, and Fig. 7 a detached side view ofa modified application thereof. Fig, 8 is an end view partly in sectionand Fig. 9 a sectional plan of an engine with drop valves provided withthe improved valve trip-gear.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In carrying out the invention and referring to the figures generally,the improved valve trip-gear consists chiefly of a valve lever a,- arocking lever b, a trip-catch 0 and a governor lever (Z carrying a looseroller 6.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4., the rocking lever 6moves on a bush f which is firmly secured into the valve spindle bonnetg and serves as a bearing for the valve spindle h. The rocking lever bis moved by a rod 1 from a wrist plate 2', Figs. and 6, and an eccentric(not shown) in the usual manner and transmits its motion to thetrip-catch c which by a stud 7c is suspended from the rocking lever b.The tripcatch 0 as well as the valve lever a, which latter is firmlysecured to the outer end of the valve spindle h, are each provided witha steel plate 1, m respectively serving as contact surface the formerforming a shoulder to rest upon the latter. surfaces form portions of ajoint arc with center coinciding with that of the fulcrum ]b' of thetrip-catch 0.

The valve lever a by a rod n, Figs. 5 and The said contact r 6, isconnected wit-h the piston of a dash pot 0 and act'uates the valve.'

Upon the free end of the bush f is adapted to oscillate the governorlever (Z, one end of which, by a rod 19 and other suitable connections,say such as shown, is coupled with the governor g and the otherfurnished with a loose roller 6.

The trip-catch 0 is fixed in such a position relative to the valve lever64, that it readily engages therewith without shock and such engagementis rendered positive by means of a suitable spring connection or weight,say by a plate spring 1 secured to the rocking lever b which keeps thetail end of the trip-catch 0 always in contact with the loose roller 6on the said governor lever (Z and hence prevents slipping.

The tail end of the trip-catch 0 may be curved as shown in Fig. 1, therespective curve being not a regular curve but obtained by setting outvarious posit-ions whereby the trip-catch is caused to disengage thevalve lever a gradually and a gradual rolling motion is obtained whichreduces the friction between the trip-catch c and the loose roller 6 onthe governor lever to a minimum and prevents any shocks beingtransmitted by the governor lever (Z to the governor, or in some casesthe said trip catch tail end may be formed straight as shown in Fig. 3.

The trip-catch 0 releases the valve lever a by the loose roller 6 on thegovernor lever cl in contact with the tail end of the trip-catch 0,moving the trip-catch out of cont-act with the valve lever 64. Anyfluctuation in the speed of the engine is accompanied by an alterationin the position of the said loose roller which renders the contact ofthe tripcatch 0 with the valve lever a of longer or shorter duration.The valve lever a can be released at any part of the stroke.

The valve lever end operated upon by the trip-catch 0 is of such alength and the loose roller 6 on the governor lever (i so situated inrelation thereto that when the latter moves, its roller clears the valvelever end, whereby the point of contact of the loose roller 6 with thetrip catch 0 is brought as far away from the fulcrum 7c of the tripcatchas possible which gives greater leverage and hence materially assiststhe work of the governor.

The gear described operates as follows By means of the eccentricaforesaid, the rocking lever b, is continuously oscillated and thetrip-catch 0 carried thereby depresses the valve lever a and thus opensthe valve against the resistance of the dash pot 0. At the same time thetail end of the tripcatch 0 is in contact with the loose roller 6 on thegovernor lever (Z and forced down on the loose roller 6 and thetrip-catch 0 thereby caused to release the valve lever a, when the dashp-ot 0 immediately closes the valve again and the rocking lever bcontinuing its oscillation, the spring 1* forces the tripcatch 0 intoengagement again which completes the cycle of operation.

Referring to Fig. 7, according to a modification of this invention, inlieu of the governor lever described, an arm 8 carrying a loose roller 6may be fulcrumed to the valve bonnet bush 7 and by a rod and angularlever a connected to the rod 79- leading to the governor.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, in this case the valve lever a is mountedloosely upon a bush f employed around the shaft to and secured to thebonnet g, the said bush forming a bearing for the shaft w. The valvelever a has a forked end a upon which rests a collar is secured to thespindle h of the drop valve 2 At each end of the bush f is secured tothe shaft 10 the arm (Z carrying on a pin the loose roller 6. Upon eachend of the bush f is loosely mounted a rocking arm I) connected togetherby a pin to which is fulcrumed the trip-catch c and also the eccentricrod 0). To the shaft w is also secured an arm d by a rod 7) connectedwith the governor g.

I claim:

1. In a valve trip gear for steam and other motive power engines, avalve lever, a rocking lever, a governor lever and suspended from thesaid rocking lever a trip catch furnished with a contact surfacesituated above the free end of and adapted to depress the said valvelever, the said governor lever carrying a roller adapted to operate uponthe tail end of the said trip catch and having a fulcrum coinciding withthat of the said valve lever and rocking lever and so located inrelation to the said trip catch tail end, that the least motion of thegovernor lever imparts to the trip catch a comparatively large andregular engaging movement which permits of varying the amount of contactsurface presented by the trip catch and valve lever according to the cutoff in the cylinder, proportionately to the movement of the governor,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a valve trip gear for steam and other motive power engines, avalve lever, a rocking lever, a governor lever and suspended from thesaid rocking lever a trip catch furnished with a contact surfacesituated above the free end of and adapted to depress the said valvelever, the said governor lever carrying a roller adapted to operate uponthe tail end of the said trip catch and having a fulcrum coinciding withthat of the said valve lever and rocking lever, the said trip catch andthe valve lever cont-act surfaces being curved and forming an arc thecenter of which coincides with the fulcrum of the said trip catch andthe said contact surfaces of such a length that a positive engagement isinsured, slipping prevented and Wear and tear reduced to a minimum, allsubstantially as set forth.

3. In a valve tripgear for steam and other motive power engines, a valvelever, a rocking lever, a governor lever and suspended from the saidrocking lever a trip catch furnished with a contact surface situatedabove the free end of and adapted to depress the said valve lever, thesaid governor lever carrying a roller adapted to operate upon the tailend of the said trip catch and having a fulcrum coinciding with that ofthe said valve lever and rocking lever, the said trip catch tail endbeing of such a length and the said governor lever roller so situated inrelation to the said tail end, as to reduce the governor force requiredfor disengaging the trip catch to a minimum, all substantially as setforth.

4. In a valve trip gear for steam and other motive power engines, avalve lever, a rocking lever, a governor lever and suspended from thesaid rocking levera trip catch furnished with a contact surface situatedabove the free end of and adapted to depress the 'with the contactsurface of the said valve lever, that the disengagement of the tripcatch from the valve lever begins the moment the engagement of the tripcatch contact surface with the valve lever takes place and during theWhole period a gradual and uniform disengaging is insured and therebythe plucking action on the governor during disengagement is reduced to aminimum, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

, EDWIN NEUKOMlVL WVitnesses:

FERDINAND BOSSI-IARDT, STANLEY E. BRAMALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

